With Tokyo winning the 2020 Olympics bid, all eyes are on Japan as a hot travel destination. In fact, in 2013, the number of visiting tourists broke the 10 million barrier for the first time ever.

It makes sense – who wouldn’t want to visit a country whose traditional cuisine, washoku, has been recognised as an Intangible Cultural Heritage asset by UNESCO. Or that boasts 14 Michelin-starred restaurants – including RyuGin (see no. 080) whose owner, Seiji Yamamoto, created the dish featured on this guide’s cover. Yamamoto is known for using seasonal ingredients – in this case matsutake mushroom and matsuba crab – to express the richness of the country’s nature. He also only uses quality food from farm producers, making his dishes simple yet reflective of Japan’s beauty.

Whether you want to spend your holiday slurping 60 bowls of soba in one sitting, or you’re more interested in trekking to the top of Mt Fuji (which also recently became a UNESCO World Heritage site), sleeping in a temple, and sporting a kimono on a film set, we’ve got it covered with ‘101 things to do in Japan’.
隨着東京贏得2020年奧運會申辦，所有目光都集中在日本這個旅遊熱點。在2013年，訪日旅客人數首次突破了1千萬人次創下新高。

Things like anime, manga and Japanese cuisine are already
integral parts of global culture, recognised and beloved
virtually all over the world. However, manifestations of
Japanese culture overseas are by no means limited to these
top ‘exports’. Written by Time Out editors from seven countries,
this special series explores the diversity of Japanese culture
around the world.
深受各國人士喜愛的日本動漫及和食，在全球化文化中已成為不可缺少的一部份，但值得關注的並不只限於這些最受歡迎的「出口物品」。由七個國家的Time Out編輯寫的特集，將探索日本文化在世界各國裡的多樣性。
深受各国人士喜爱的日本动漫及和食，在全球化文化中已成为不可缺少的一部份，但值得关注的并不只限于这些最受欢迎的「出口物品」。由七个国家的Time Out编辑写的特集，将探索日本文化在世界各国里的多样性。